I usually post my Bad Employer’s list monthly, as it appears on the Ministry of Labour website. However, the MOL has just issued a press release explaining how Premier Fitness has been fined $100,000 for slow payment of wage violations, and a Director, one Neil Proctor, was fined $30,000 for the same incident. Here is the content of the Press Release:
Premier Fitness Clubs Inc., a Mississauga operator of 25 fitness clubs across Ontario, was fined $100,000 today for a violation of the Employment Standards Act regarding wages owed to employees. Neil Proctor, a director of the company, was fined
$30,000 for the same violation.
Between June 2009 and September 2010, 38 current and former employees of Premier Fitness filed claims with the Ministry of Labour over wages not being paid in a timely fashion. An investigation revealed the claimants were owed a total of roughly $75,000. All wages were eventually paid, but some claimants waited up to a year for their entitlements.
Premier Fitness Clubs Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to promptly pay 38 employees and former employees approximately $75,000 in wages. Neil Proctor pleaded guilty to the same.
The fines were imposed by Justice of the Peace Michael Barnes. In addition to the fines, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
To you Premier Fitness and Neil Proctor, I award you the Bad Employer Raspberry of the Month. Â Congratulations!